The Shawnee - Forced out or Bought out?

Whenever I ask someone why do you think the Shawnee left Ohio, the response is almost always the same, “The government forced them out because it wanted their land.” In fact, every internet article I read said the same thing; “they were forced out,” or “they were removed.” Ready to give up and accept the fact the Shawnee were ousted from the state by a land grabbing government, I came across a site that said the Shawnee were "persuaded" to move and that caused me to wonder if there was a lot more to this story than is normally thought.  The question remains; why did the government want the Shawnee land in Ohio.  The answer; white migration.  

Consider This

In 1820 the population of Ohio was 581,434. By 1830 it had grown to 937,903, an increase of 356,469 (62%). Put into perspective, in the course of 10 years an average of almost 700 people were moving into Ohio every week. They were coming into Ohio because:

1. Ohio was a popular destination for migrants from New England, New York, and Pennsylvania.

2. The soil in western Ohio was a huge attraction, especially for European farmers.

3. The Ohio & Erie and the Miami-Erie Canals were in full operation by 1832, and they were transforming Ohio's economy, with towns and businesses growing up along the canal's banks.

With the massive influx of whites moving west, President Andrew Jackson and his government needed a plan, the result; The Indian Removal Act of 1830.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830

The Act established a process whereby the. President of the United States could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands. As incentives, the law allowed the Indians financial and material assistance to travel to their new locations and start new lives and guaranteed that the Indians would live on their new property under the protection of the United States Government forever.

1831

By 1832 all the Delaware and most of the Shawnee tribes had left Ohio under an 1817 treaty. Only 422 Shawnee remained and were headquarted in Wapakoneta, Ohio. To deal with them the government created the "Treaty of Wapakoneta", also known as the "Treaty with the Shawnee."

Relationships

Articles IX and X of the Indian Removal Act gives us a good idea of the relationship between the government and the Shawnee tribe at the time.

Article IX - In consideration of the good conduct and friendly dispositions of the said band of Shawnees towards the American Government, and as an earnest of the kind feelings and good wishes of the people of the United States, for the future welfare and happiness of the said Shawnees, it is agreed that the United States, will give them, as presents, the following articles, to be fairly divided by the chiefs, among their people, according to their several necessities.

Article X - :The President of the United States will cause said tribe to be protected at their intended residence, against all interruption or disturbance from any other tribe or nation of Indians, or from any other person or persons whatever,

The Treaty of Wapakoneta 1831

What the government offered was if the Shawnee ceded all their lands in Ohio, it would:

1. Advance the tribe $13,000 initially to cover expenses as they settle into their new homes west of the Mississippi

2. Provide them with 100,000 acres of land west of the Mississippi.

3. Supply them with a sufficiency of good and wholesome provisions, to support them for one year after their arrival at their new residence.

4. Build a sawmill and a grist mill along with 2 pairs of mill stones and a good bolting cloth[1]. Build a blacksmith shop along with necessary tools plus employ a blacksmith to work with the tribe as long as the President deemed proper and until the tribe was sufficiently trained.

5. The farming utensils, livestock, and other chattel property the Shawnee now owns and would not be able to carry with them shall be sold under the superintendence of some suitable person, appointed by the Secretary of War with the proceeds paid over to the Shawnee owner of such property.

6. The government would sell the ceded Shawnee land after which it would deduct from the sales 75 cents per acre to cover the costs of surveying, the cost of the grist mill, sawmill and blacksmith shop and the $13,000 advance. The balance along with profits from future sales would be put into a fund for the future needs of the tribe.

7. Provide 200 hundred blankets, forty plows, 40 sets of horse gears[2], 150 hoes, 50 axes and Russia sheeting[3] sufficient for 50 tents – the whole to be delivered to them as soon as possible after their arrival at their new residence, except the blankets and Russia Sheeting[I] which shill be given previous to their removal.

8. Twenty-five rifle guns

9. Three cross-cut saws, 4 grindstones annually, 10 hand saws, 10 drawing knives, 20 files, 50 glets[4],20 augurs of different sizes, 10 planes of different sizes, 2 braces and bits, 4 hewing axes, 24 scythes, 5 frows[5] and 5 grubbing hoes[6].

Incentives for the Shawnee to Leave Ohio

In addition to the items listed above in the "Treaty or Wapakoneta" there were other incentives that no doubt contributed to the Shawnee agreeing to leave Ohio. Those were:

Like most tribes, the Shawnee were tired of war and all its deprivations. They had been at war for centuries even being pushed out of Ohio by the Iroquois in the 1600's. The Shawnee tribes did not return to Ohio until the early 1700s.

The Shawnee tribal leaders were not naive; they could see the handwriting on the wall. Whites were pouring into the state in record numbers and they knew eventually they would be eventually become nothing more than nomadic bands moving from one place to another.
Another contributing factor was the Shawnee found themselves sandwiched between two fully operational canal systems; the Ohio-Erie Canal on the eastern side of the state and the Miami-Erie Canal on the western part of the state. No doubt the Shawnee were feeling they were being squeezed out.

Where Did the Shawnee Go?

1832 - 1835

Tribal leaders eventually agreed to the government’s proposal and signed The Treaty of Wapakoneta in Wapakoneta on August 8, 1831. Most of the 422 remaining tribal members began to leave in 1832 while others who had assimilated into the white man’s society probably stayed behind. Some had married white women and now had children. A common perception of the Shawnee wearing loin cloths feathered headdresses with a tomahawk stuffed in his belt and living in a teepee is simply Hollywood. In fact, at the time most dressed in the white man’s style of clothing. One observer, seeing a group of Shawnee on their way to Cincinnati at the time commented that at first glance he thought they were his white neighbors.

Do not confuse the Shawnee leaving Ohio incident with the Cherokee "Trail of Tears."  While the latter, was part of the "Indian Removal Act" it involved an different set of circumstances.

1854 - 1869

By 1854 members of the Shawnee owned the land that later became Lenza, Kansas. Each man, woman and child in the local tribe had been allotted 200 acres. The Shawnee prospered in Kansas owing to their agricultural skills. Apparently those "skills" did not include order and neatness. In my book "Fort Amanda - a Historical Redress," I describe how the soldiers at the fort used to trade with the Shawnee in Wapakoneta. In his journal, Ensign William Schillinger, wrote the following about the Indian gardens in Wapakoneta.

Friday the 23^rd July  1813

 I took a Horse & rode with the Lieut to Wapukannati,  took A survey of the Indian Gardens or farms (for they know no difference between their farm or garden).  I found variety of vines, such as Pumkins, water & musk melons, cucumbers, beens of various kinds, growing among their corn which was planted without any kind of order,  Patatoes was tolerable plenty growing  They break up their ground with the hoe,  & no other machine is made use of for to till their corn,  The work is principly done by squaws.

 

The Story Doesn’t End Here

When Kansas gained statehood in 1861, Kansans demanded that all Indian tribes be removed from their state. In 1869, the Shawnee and the Cherokee Nation entered into an agreement by which 722 Shawnee were granted Cherokee citizenship in the Indian Territory. Despite the disagreements in Kansas, while their Shawnee men served in the Union Army during the Civil War (1862-1864).

In 1869 the Shawnee and the Cherokee Nation entered into an agreement by which 722 Loyal Shawnee were granted Cherokee citizenship in the Indian Territory. By1871 most had settled in the present Craig and Roger counties in Oklahoma. Having no political organization, they lost their tribal identity and became known as the Cherokee Shawnee.

Regaining their Identity

The Cherokee Shawnee received federal recognition as the Shawnee Tribe in 2000. They are governed by an eleven-member business committee. Tribal operations during the early twenty-first century were limited, but in 2011 a language retention program was developed. In 2018 in Miami the tribe opened the Shawnee Tribe Culture Center, which offers exhibits and special programming.
Currently, there are about 2,226 enrolled tribal members, with 1,070 of them living within the state of Oklahoma.

Conclusion

Many readers will always believe the Shawnee were "forced" or "removed" from Ohio and that's OK we all have our own opinions and keeping in mind what Descarte once said, "We don't know what we don't know"  As for me, the apparent friendly relationship between the Shawnee and the government at the time, along with the generous terms of the Treaty of Wapakoneta,  I won't be thinking of  their departure as a "trail of tears,"   but rather as “peaceful and amiable exodus.

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[1] Bolting cloth was basically a filter or sieve that filtered out large chunks of materials

[2] Horse gears or tack horse gears or tack, is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses.

[3] Russia sheeting, also known as Russia drill, is a thick twilled fabric used to make military and civilian clothing. Can also be used to make jackets and coats.

[4] A Glet is a metallic tool used to apply glet, a cement-based compound used to level and fill walls and ceilings. It's ideal for concrete surfaces and mortar. Like a spackling compound.

[5] A froe (or frow), shake axe or paling knife is a tool for cleaving wood by splitting it along the grain. It is an L-shaped tool, used by hammering one edge.

[6] Grubbing hoes are used to till the soil, make a new garden, remove sod, chop big weeds, or dig a trench.